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Welcome back, RotoBallers, to another KBO DFS column. Have you caught KBO fever yet? It’s only been a week but I’ve been enjoying these games and digging in deep to research these teams and players for you!
New to KBO? DraftKings and FanDuel will use the same scoring system that they do for MLB, however, the roster builds are much different on FanDuel. You must roster two infielders, two outfielders, and two utility players along with a pitcher for a total of only seven players on FanDuel. DraftKings has kept its normal MLB structure with two starting pitchers and an entire eight-hitter lineup for a total of ten players. Building lineups on each site is going to be very different.
Today, I'll be providing my KBO DFS lineup picks and analysis for this five-game slate on DraftKings and FanDuel that locks at 5:30 AM on Thursday, May 14, 2020. Both DraftKings and FanDuel have large contests with big top prizes. DraftKings' largest contest has a top prize of $25K to first and FanDuel has a contest with a top prize of $5K to first. Make sure you are also following me @Grownfool on Twitter!
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KBO DFS Pitchers
Strikeout rates are much lower in KBO. An average MLB K% would be among the league leaders in KBO. The lower strikeout numbers make innings and wins much more important for KBO DFS. Most of the league leaders in innings pitched last season were foreign pitchers. In the first week, many pitchers threw limited innings due to an abbreviated exhibition game schedule and 14 day quarantines for foreign starters when they returned in late March. All of today's starters threw at least 85 pitches in their last first start so there should not be any innings limits.
Tyler Wilson - LG Starting P ($7200 DraftKings / $20 FanDuel)
Wilson had a rough first start facing the Dinos on the road. He's back at home tonight so here's hoping for a rebound. We've seen other foreign starters have a rough first start followed by a dominant second start. Last season Wilson was one of the top pitchers in the league and had a 1.16 WHIP with an 18% K rate, averaged 6.2 innings per start, and only gave up 7 HRs in 185 innings.
Drew Gagnon - Kia Starting P ($6500 DraftKings / $22 FanDuel )
Gagnon is another foreign starter who wasn't great in his first start but could rebound tonight. He's also cheap on DraftKings allowing you to pay for top bats. Gagnon has a good changeup and a fastball in the mid 90s which is a pitch repertoire that should play well in KBO. Gagnon showed improvement in 2018 in AAA in Las Vegas. Last season his SO/9 in AAA dropped from 9.53 to 7.31.
Other starters to consider are:
- Chang M0 Koo - NC Starting P ($9200 DraftKings / $28 FanDuel )
- Chris Flexen - Doosan Starting P ($8800 DraftKings / $24 FanDuel)
KBO Top Hitter Stacks
KBO de-juiced the ball last season and power numbers declined. Home runs are way up so far and it looks like the juice is back. Build stacks centered around middle of the order power hitters or top of the order speed. Don't overlook hitters batting sixth and seventh especially in top offenses. Some teams also have hitters with speed batting eighth or ninth that function almost like second leadoff hitters.
Doosan Bears
The Bears are red hot and a Bears stack is always in play on the road especially when they're not facing an elite pitcher.
Jae Il Oh led the team in HRs last season and has hit two so far this season. Jose Miguel Fernandez and Jae Hwan Kim are both in the top five in the league for OPS. Kim leads the team in HRs with four. Kun Woo Park leads off and is a stolen base threat. So far this season he has one HR. Jae Ho Kim has a .902 OPS and is massively underpriced.
- Jose Miguel Fernandez - 1B/2B ($5900 DraftKings / $17 FanDuel)
- Jae Hwan Kim - 1B/OF ($4900 DraftKings / $16 FanDuel)
- Jae Il Oh - 1B ($4200 DraftKings / $15 FanDuel)
- Kun Woo Park - OF ($3700 DraftKings / $13 FanDuel)
- Jae Ho Kim - SS ($2000 DraftKings / $8 FanDuel)
Kiwoom Heroes
The Heroes keep finding a way to win even while averaging under five runs a game. Last season, the Heroes led the league in wOBA and OPS versus lefties. Chae Heung Choi started two games against the Heroes last season. In the first, he gave up three HRs and didn't make it out of the third inning.
Byungho Park, Jung Ho Lee , and Dong Won Park are middle of the order power bats. Lee is a lefty and only hit two HRs versus lefties last season but still had a .400 wOBA. Byungho Park hit 13 HRs against lefties. Ha Seong Kim led the team in steals including five against lefties. Keon Chong Seo leads off and is 4 for 7 versus lefties this season.
- Byung Ho Park - 1B ($5400 DraftKings / $14 FanDuel)
- Jung Ho Lee - OF ($4400 DraftKings / $14 FanDuel)
- Ha Seong Kim - SS ($5000 DraftKings / $12 FanDuel)
- Keon Chong Seo - 1B/2B ($2800 DraftKings / $11 FanDuel)
- Dong Won Park - C ($4400 DraftKings / $8 FanDuel)
Other stacks to consider:
- NC Dinos
- LG Twins
Conclusion
- Starting lineups will not be released until one hour before lock. Note the start time of these contests and be prepared to stay up late or get up early. Most lineups have been close to what we expected for most teams especially the top and middle of the order.
- Go easy on these early in the season slates and have some fun with it. There's going to be a learning curve here for everyone with a new sport like this and you don't want to play more bankroll than you're comfortable with on players you've never heard of before.
- Use familiar MLB DFS strategies like stacking and picking on bad pitchers. Once we get to know these teams better and get more data on hitters and pitchers we should be able to have a better indication of who we want to target on a nightly basis.
- Good luck and have some fun! Just be thankful that baseball, in some form, is back!
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